Rogue Knight
by Rainack
Summary: When Carlee and K.I.T.T. go rogue, can Michaela and her new partner bring them back into the fold? Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

As usual, I do not own Knight Rider. All OC's are mine, though.

Rogue Knight

Chapter 1

"They're leading us directly into a residential area, Michaela," K.A.I.S.Y. said, as he steered around a slower moving car. The black Corvette they were chasing had just turbo boosted over the same vehicle.

"Has K.I.T.T. responded to your calls?" Michaela asked, hanging onto the steering wheel for dear life, even though she wasn't in control of the vehicle.

"No! He's receiving my signal, but refusing to acknowledge," K.A.I.S.Y. replied in frustration. "We're coming up behind a slow moving semi, and there is on coming traffic," K.A.I.S.Y. informed Michaela.

"Turbo boost," she yelled out, punching the button a second later.

The midnight blue GMC Canyon was launched into the air and sailed effortlessly over the semi. Spinning tires meeting asphalt sent them rocketing forward once more.

K.I.T.T. and K.A.I.S.Y. were too evenly matched, though. Neither could make any headway.

Late afternoon pedestrians were left with slack jaws, wondering how a mid-size pick-up truck could be keeping pace with a high end sports car.

"We have to stop," K.A.I.S.Y. concluded a moment later. "That residential area is going to be full of kids playing outside. We just can't risk their lives."

Michaela reluctantly agreed, and K.A.I.S.Y. brought the truck skidding to a halt.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Two weeks earlier:

"When were you planning to tell me that Mom and K.I.T.T. had dropped off the radar, Uncle Devon!" Michaela demanded.

Michaela studied the old man for a moment, shocked by how his age suddenly seemed to show.

Devon shook his head sadly. "This is exactly the reason I wasn't going to tell you."

The sixteen year old girl moved with the same lithe, deadly grace her dead father had. Now, she stood with her arms crossed over her chest, just like Michael used to do.

Michaela's eyes narrowed, "How long?"

"Two days," Devon replied wearily. "Is there anything I can do to stop you?"

"No!"

Muttering under his breath, "Her father's daughter," Devon pushed a red button on his phone, but didn't say anything else.

A moment later, the office door opened, and a young man, only a little older than Michaela, walked in.

He flashed a dazzling smile at Michaela, and stuck his hand toward her. "Hi! I'm Casey, part of your new partner."

Michaela accepted the offered hand, her eyes lighting up with sudden realization.

"You're an avatar!" she exclaimed, looking to Devon for confirmation. "Does that mean..." she trailed off.

"There is a new AI designed specifically for you, Michaela Knight," Devon told her.

The human form avatar didn't surprise her one bit. K.I.T.T.'s avatar had been upgraded to take human form a couple of years ago.

Michaela's excitement was tempered by worry for her mom and K.I.T.T.

"How long have you been on-line?" Michaela asked curiously, as she followed Casey to the garage.

"I only received my body a couple of days ago, but I've been on-line for a couple of years. Bonnie wanted me to have a chance to gain some experience, before we met. I've been interacting with Bonnie, Devon, Carlee, and even K.I.T.T."

Casey pushed open the garage door, and allowed Michaela to precede him through.

K.I.T.T.'s usual spot was conspicuously empty.

Beyond K.I.T.T.'s spot stood a midnight blue GMC Canyon mid-sized pick-up truck. The four door truck boasted the more aggressive looking fenders of the off road package, though Michaela was pretty sure this particular Canyon was outfitted to handle any terrain imaginable.

The hood was open, and Michaela could see Bonnie leaning into the engine compartment. The truck was tall enough that her legs dangled off the ground.

"We have company, Bonnie," this time the voice came from the truck, instead of the avatar.

Bonnie slid backwards, until her feet were touching the floor. She wiped her greasy hands on her usually spotless white mechanics' coveralls. Michaela idly wondered how many coveralls she went through in a month.

Closing the hood, Bonnie patted it affectionately. "Michaela, meet K.A.I.S.Y., Knight Artificially Intelligent System."

"He's gorgeous!" Michaela exclaimed. "How did you know I've been eyeing the Canyons?"

"Casey!" Bonnie glared at the avatar, "You were told not to have any contact with Michaela!"

A slight blush touched the avatar's cheeks, "Tracking her internet activities isn't technically contact."

Michaela shot a quizzical look at Bonnie.

"He insisted his body be a Canyon, I had nothing to do with the choice."

Michaela strode around the truck, running her hand along the nanite "skin" as she went. When she got to the front, she backed a few paces away to get a good look.

K.A.I.S.Y. had a scanner similar to K.I.T.T.'s, but his was a blue so dark, she thought it would be nearly impossible to see at night. It was nestled in the grill beneath the GMC logo. At the moment, it tracked slowly back and forth in a way that she could only call contentment.

The driver side door opened for her when she approached it.

Climbing inside, she took in the highly modified dash.

Just like K.I.T.T.'s dash, K.A.I.S.Y.'s sported a myriad of readouts and buttons as well as a voice modulator.

It lit up as K.A.I.S.Y. spoke, "I've been looking forward to finally meeting you, Michaela." The flashing bars of his voice box were the same dark blue as his scanner.

"It's great to meet you, K.A.I.S.Y. Now, let's find my mom and K.I.T.T.!"

"Bonnie has already sent me all the information about the case they were working and their last known location," K.A.I.S.Y. supplied.

"Have you had any contact with K.I.T.T. since they disappeared?"

"No. He won't answer my requests to communicate, and his homing beacon has been disabled.

"Okay, so what do we know? What was the last case they were working on?" Michaela asked, as she pushed a long strand of curly dark hair behind an ear.

"They had just wrapped up a missing person's case. A father and young son went missing on a hunting trip. K.I.T.T. managed to track them down, a few miles from where they were supposed to be," K.A.I.S.Y. supplied instantly.

"Where had Mom been staying?"

"A motel near where the two missing people were supposed to be hunting. She checked out the morning she and K.I.T.T. disappeared. The last GPS location we have on them, K.I.T.T. had stopped at a Tasty Chicken, so your mom could have some lunch."

"Tap into the restaurant's surveillance system, and see what they've got on video the day they disappeared," Michaela ordered.

The video appeared on the five inch LCD monitor built into K.A.I.S.Y.'s dash. Michaela could see from the time stamp that K.A.I.S.Y. had started from the beginning of the day.

People came and went at high speed, as K.A.I.S.Y. forwarded through the footage. A little after noon, according to the time stamp, Michaela saw her mom walk into the restaurant and get in line.

"There, normal play, K.A.I.S.Y.," Michaela said, sitting up straighter in the seat.

Being a surveillance camera, there was no audio, only visual, so Michaela couldn't hear anything her mom said.

She watched as her mom waited a few minutes in line, then placed her order. After ordering, Carlee walked to the women's restroom.

Another woman walked into the restroom a moment later.

Michaela expected her mom to come out within a few minutes, but after five minutes, her mom still had not emerged.

"K.A.I.S.Y., forward until Mom comes out, please."

K.A.I.S.Y. did as instructed. Still, the time seemed to drag on. Finally, Carlee emerged. The woman who had gone in after her came out with her.

"How long was she in there?" Michaela wanted to know.

"Fifteen minutes, ten seconds," K.A.I.S.Y. replied.

Michaela watched her mom and the strange woman. The woman had her hand on Carlee's elbow, as if directing her. Looking at Carlee's face, Michaela was unsettled by her mother's expression. To be more precise, she was unsettled by her mother's total lack of expression. Her mother seemed to be in some kind of daze or trance.

The strange woman guided Carlee out to the parking lot, where she positioned Carlee by K.I.T.T.'s driver door, then walked around to the passenger side.

Carlee said something to K.I.T.T. and both doors opened.

"What did Mom say to K.I.T.T.?"

"We have a new friend and she needs a ride."

Michaela continued to watch as K.I.T.T. pulled out of the parking lot and drove out of the camera's range.

"Get me a print out of that woman, and run facial recognition on her. I want to see if Aunt Bonnie or Uncle Devon know who she is. Also, get me a print out of Mom's face. Maybe Jason will know what's going on with her."

"Right away," K.A.I.S.Y. acknowledged.

Two photos popped out of the printer built into the dash.

Michaela grabbed the pictures and was about to jump down, out of the truck, when the glove compartment popped open. A covered tray opened, revealing something resembling a tiny hearing aid, which Michaela knew was actually an earwig. Her mom's wristwatch comlink had been upgraded to an earwig a few years ago.

Plucking the earwig from the tray, she placed it in her right ear. Giving the dash an affectionate pat, she said a quick, "Thanks!" and jumped out of the truck.

Bonnie was sitting at her computer work station in front of K.I.T.T.'s spot in the garage, so Michaela went to her first.

Explaining to Bonnie what they'd found out so far, Michaela handed her the printout.

Bonnie studied the woman's face intently. "I've never seen her before," she said, shaking her head and handing the photo back. "Have K.A.I.S.Y. run facial recognition."

"Thanks, Aunt Bonnie. He already is."

Putting her arm around Michaela's shoulders, Bonnie hugged the girl affectionately.

Tears welled in Michaela's eyes, and she threw her arms around Bonnie. Her slight frame was wracked by sobs, as for the first time, she let her fear wrest control from her.

A moment later, another gentle hand joined Bonnie's on Michaela's back, and she turned to see Casey standing there, concern plain on his face.

"We'll find them!" he assured her. "Together!"

Wiping her eyes as she straightened and pulled away from Bonnie, Michaela smiled gratefully at both of them.

"I know," she replied to Casey. "I'd better go talk to Devon and Jason." Putting action to words, she turned and walked toward the connecting door to the mansion.

Devon had never seen the woman before, either.

Jason was in the semi, restocking medical supplies. His forehead was drawn down in worry, and Michaela knew it was worry for her mom.

In the six years since Jason had pulled Carlee out of a nearly destroyed Trans Am K.I.T.T., the two adults had become very close friends. Michaela suspected the two were on the verge of a much deeper relationship that they just didn't seem willing to admit to themselves or each other.

A look of guarded hope crossed Jason's face, when he looked up to see Michaela climbing into the trailer.

"Hi, Jason. I need to ask you something."

Jason put the roll of gauze down that he'd been holding. "Anything!" he responded easily.

Michaela held out the picture of Carlee from the restaurant.

Jason took the photo, studying it closely. He noted the blank look and the way the other woman seemed to be directing her.

"What could cause Mom to act like that?" desperation was clear in Michaela's voice.

"Some kind of drug. Maybe something like Sodium Pentothal," was Jason's nearly instant response.

He handed the picture back to Michaela, only then noticing the second photo she held. "Who's that?"

Michaela handed him the photo. "She's the woman who took Mom and K.I.T.T."

Jason studied this photo, his brow furrowing. "I think I've seen her picture somewhere before. In a magazine." He looked up at Michaela's forlorn face. Putting his hand on her upper arm, he squeezed it and said, "I'll look into where it was I saw her picture and get back to you. Can I keep this?" he indicated the photo.

Michaela nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Surprisingly, Jason was able to identify the woman before K.A.I.S.Y.

Where K.A.I.S.Y. had a nearly limitless amount of faces to sift through, Jason had a much more limited amount of information to sort through. It still took Jason a couple of days to find her.

While he was certain he had seen her photo in a magazine, he didn't know which one. He was subscribing to several, mostly dealing with psychology and medicine.

He began with the most recent magazines and worked his way backwards through each, up to a year.

He found the photo in a psychology magazine dated five months previously.

He hadn't originally read the article the photo was tied to, as it hadn't dealt with post traumatic stress syndrom.

The title of the article caused him to suck in his breath. Wonder Drug, or Brain Washing? Jason quickly read through the article. Dr. Gloria Stalov had created her so called wonder drug to help addicts overcome their addictions, or so proponents of the drug purported. Opponents of the drug claimed that it opened the recipient's mind to brain washing. Anyone given this drug could be in essence programmed to do anything the person administering it wanted them to do. It was so powerful that one dose was all that was needed and the recipient's mind would be open to commands within several minutes. While the drug did eventually wear off, it took several months.

Magazine in hand, Jason set off in search of Michaela. Having no solid leads, Michaela hadn't left the F.L.A.G. premises, but she could still be just about anywhere on the large property.

He found her out front of the mansion, jogging around the perimeter of the large lawn. Casey was jogging with her. When they saw him, they both cut across the lawn.

Michaela scooped up a towel from the ground nearby and blotted her sweaty face and neck.

If Jason hadn't known what Casey was, he would have found it extremely odd that the other "man" wasn't sweating.

Jason handed Michaela the magazine, and told her his fears about her mother.

"Brain washed!" Michaela exclaimed in frustration. She took the magazine and skimmed the article.

Handing the magazine to Casey, she said, "Find out everything you can about Dr. Gloria Stalov."

Casey scanned the article and gave the magazine back to Michaela, who stared at the picture of Dr. Stalov.

Turning back to Jason, Michaela said, "Find out everything you can about that 'wonder drug.' Especially find out if there's an antidote. If not, get R & D on it."

"Sure, no problem," Jason responded, happy to have something to occupy his mind.

Giving Jason a quick, "Thanks!" Michaela sprinted toward the front doors of the mansion, Casey right behind her.

"What is it?" he asked, having sensed her sudden change in heart beat and blood pressure.

"That woman's name, Stalov. I know I've heard it before. One of Mom's old cases..."

Casey stopped in his tracks. Michaela stopped, turning towards him.

"No, not one of your mom's old cases. Dr. Gil Stalov. When you were four, he kidnaped your mom and K.I.T.T. Used your mom to gain entrance to K.I.T.T., then tried to program him to override his primary programming."

K.A.I.S.Y. had access to all of F.L.A.G.'s computers, which contained files on everything that Carlee and K.I.T.T. had ever done.

A quick Internet search confirmed what K.A.I.S.Y. had feared. "Gloria Stalov is Gil Stalov's daughter." A grave look clouded Casey's handsome features, "Gil Stalov broke out of prison last week."

"I want to know all properties in either Stalovs' name," Michaela directed, as she headed off to shower and change.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The only property to turn up belonging to either Stalov was a modest home belonging to Gloria. It sat on two acres in the greater L.A. area.

"Meet me out front, K.A.I.S.Y.," Michaela said into her earwig, as she jogged down the steps to the front door of the mansion.

She highly doubted the Stalovs' would have K.I.T.T. and her mom at the house in L.A., but there might be some clues that would lead her to them.

The afternoon sun glinted off K.A.I.S.Y.'s windshield when Michaela opened the mansion door. The temperature was nearing the predicted one hundred five mark.

Even the few steps Michaela had to take to get to the open and waiting driver side door of the Canyon had her breaking out in sweat. She quickly climbed up into the cab and closed the door, grateful for the air conditioning K.A.I.S.Y. had running full blast.

Switching from Auto Cruise to Manual Cruise, Michaela accelerated smoothly out of the driveway. Being sixteen, she already had her driver's licence. K.A.I.S.Y. had been given strict orders not to allow her to drive if they were involved in any kind of high speed chase, though.

K.A.I.S.Y. gave Michaela turn by turn directions during the twenty minute drive.

Michaela pulled up to the curb of a house down the street. She'd given herself a good view of Gloria Stalov's house. It was set well back from the road with a large circular drive and lawn out front.

The house was a beautiful two story structure. Michaela could see from the blue prints K.A.I.S.Y. had pulled up on his monitor that it was a five bedroom, four bath home. An attached three car garage completed the structure.

"Anyone home?" Michaela asked.

"There is currently no one in residence. There is only one car in the garage. The engine is cold."

"We're going in like we own the place. Scan the garage door opener for the code." Michaela turned the truck around and pulled into the circular driveway. K.A.I.S.Y. opened the garage door, and they pulled into the garage. The door closed behind them.

Michaela jumped down out of the truck, just as Casey plopped down out of the passenger side door.

Gloria, like most people, did not lock the connecting door between the garage and the house.

It took Casey a few minutes to pronounce the alarm disabled, however. Michaela then opened the door and entered the house.

"Casey, find any computer equipment and see what you can come up with. I'll look through mail and what not."

Casey nodded and moved off into the house.

Michaela started by just walking through the downstairs of the house. The garage lead into the kitchen, where she currently was. There were two closed doors, and an archway that lead into the dining room. One of the closed doors lead into a walk-in pantry. The other was locked from the inside. She thought it might lead to a basement. Most California homes didn't have basements, but they weren't totally unheard of.

The basement would have to wait until she could have Casey's help with the door.

The kitchen counters were clean and clutter free.

Michaela moved on to the dining room. There was a table and chairs, as well as a sideboard, but that was all. There wasn't even a picture on any of the walls. A door from the dining room lead to the living room.

Here there was a sectional, fireplace, and flat screen TV above the fire place. But again, nothing to make this a home.

The living room contained another door and the stairs to the second floor.

The door from the living room lead to one of the bedrooms with an attached bathroom. This bedroom had been converted to a home office. Casey sat at the desk, his hand resting on top of the computer.

A far away look was on Casey's face, suggesting he was concentrating deeply on the computer.

The computer monitor was on, and images flashed on it in rapid succession, too fast for Michaela to comprehend.

She knew that Casey had sent several of his nanites into the computer, so he was interfaced directly with it.

Leaving Casey to what he was doing, Michaela looked around. This room actually looked "lived in." There were photographs on the wall, as well as several certificates.

On the desk near the computer was a pile of opened mail.

Michaela picked up the mail and began to look through it. Most of the mail were bills specific to the house. Two credit card statements showed nothing interesting. A checking account statement showed a cash withdrawal of five thousand dollars.

"Casey, is there a financial program on that computer?"

"Yes, I was just accessing it. Had to get around password protection."

"Are there any regular cash withdrawals or anything else that might be of interest?"

"There's a monthly withdrawal of five thousand dollars. It goes back at least two years. Nothing else seems out of place."

"Okay. That five grand sounds like cash payments for rent, power, etcetera for an anonymous place to stay or work. I'm going to look around upstairs, let me know if you find anything else in the computer."

Michaela was heading for the stairs when she heard the front door being opened.

"Casey!" she hissed through her earwig. "Turn off the computer, we've got to get out of here!"

"On my way!" was his quick response.

Not caring if she was seen, knowing the deactivated alarm was a dead give away that someone had been in the house, Michaela ran. She was just passing the entryway when the front door finally swung open.

Gloria Stalov, a _very_ surprised look on her face, stopped fiddling with her keys in the door. "Stop!" she shouted, running after Michaela full tilt.

Casey chose that moment to make his appearance. His nanites dropped down from an air conditioning duct right in front of Dr. Stalov. He hit the floor as a blob, but quickly regained his human form.

Dr. Stalov skidded to a halt with a gasped, "There's another one?"

Dr. Stalov's shock gave Michaela the crucial moments she needed. She crashed through the connecting door to the garage, and skidded around the front of the truck. The moment K.A.I.S.Y. opened the door for her, she dove in.

Casey launched himself through the door Michaela had just crashed through, landing on the hood of the truck, where he was instantly reintegrated with the rest of the nanites.

Not bothering with the garage door, K.A.I.S.Y. shifted into reverse, allowed his tires to spin on the concrete for a moment, then rocketed through the garage door. Pieces of garage door flew in all directions.

Dr. Stalov stumbled into the garage in time to duck to avoid flying debris. She shouted after the fleeing Canyon, "You'll never find them!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"That went well!" Michaela exclaimed sarcastically.

"I thought so too," K.A.I.S.Y. replied. "We managed to find a lead."

"I was being sarcastic," Michaela said, taking control of the wheel, now that they had put some distance between themselves and the Stalov residence.

"Oh. I have yet to master sarcasm. K.I.T.T. has told me he still has some difficulty with it, as well."

"Not to worry, I'll help you figure it out. Now, pull up a list of all rentals paid for in cash in and around L.A. Include houses, warehouses, everything."

The list that came up on the monitor was huge.

"Whoa! Let's see what we can eliminate. Stalov is pulling out five thousand a month. Assuming she's using some of that for electricity, etcetera, let's get rid of anything with a price of forty-five hundred or more."

The list shortened, somewhat.

"Dr. Stalov would need computers, right? Perhaps we should eliminate rentals not using enough electricity to power several computers twenty-four/seven," K.A.I.S.Y. offered.

"Okay, go ahead."

The list dropped to twenty rentals. Most of them were warehouses, but there were a few houses.

"She'd need room and privacy. Drop any houses not on at least two acres. Also drop any houses without a garage."

Four houses dropped off the list.

"Drop any warehouses not surrounded by vacant land or empty warehouses."

Two warehouses dropped off the list. They were now left with a list of fourteen. Thirteen warehouses and one house.

"Pinpoint the locations of what's left on the map, please," Michaela requested.

A map took the place of the list on K.A.I.S.Y.'s monitor. Glowing red dots showed the locations of the thirteen warehouses and one house. They were scattered throughout L.A. and the surrounded area. The closest was only blocks away from their current position. The farthest was nearly a hundred miles away.

"I guess we don't have much choice but to check them all. I can't think of any other way to narrow down the search." Michaela slammed her hands down on the steering wheel in frustration, "I don't even know if we're on the right track! They may not even be in this area."

"We'll find them," K.A.I.S.Y. reassured her. "Stalov seemed surprised by me, so they may even come after us."

Michaela grinned sheepishly at K.A.I.S.Y.'s voice modulator. "You're right, we'll find them, or they'll find us. Let's go check out those rentals. We'll start with the closest and work our way out to the farthest."

At the next intersection, Michaela spun the wheel, sending them flying around a corner a little faster than was required.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

They'd been on the road for hours. It was now nearly three a.m. K.A.I.S.Y. had argued several times that they should go back to the mansion for the night and resume the search in the morning.

Each time, Michaela had flat out refused.

Now, they were down to the last three warehouses on the list.

The warehouse they were checking into now was surrounded on all sides by vacant lots. Michaela had pulled K.A.I.S.Y. up beside a deserted warehouse down the street.

"What are you picking up on your scanners, K.A.I.S.Y.?"

"This is the place. I'm picking up K.I.T.T.'s unique engine signature. I'm also picking up three people."

"That must be my mom and the two Stalovs. Try contacting K.I.T.T."

"I have already tried. He responded, but he seemed different, somehow. I closed the link. He doesn't seem to know we're near," K.A.I.S.Y.'s voice conveyed his agitation.

"What do you mean by different?" Michaela asked.

"Not the gentle being I've come to know over the last two years. I think he's been reprogrammed."

"Okay. We need to get back to the mansion, then, and talk to Bonnie."

"We'll go back to the mansion, but you won't talk to Bonnie until you've eaten and had a good night's sleep."

"Yes, mother," Michaela replied sarcastically.

"Ah, sarcasm," K.A.I.S.Y. responded, pleased with himself.

"Yup!"

* * *

Bonnie sat down heavily in her chair, a stricken look on her face. "So, he's finally managed to accomplish what he set out to do all those years ago."

Casey broke into Bonnie's thoughts, "The question is how and why?"

"The how is much easier than the why," Bonnie responded, turning to her computer and beginning to type on the keyboard. "K.I.T.T. has undergone numerous CPU upgrades and programming changes in the twelve years since Stalov first tried to get K.I.T.T. to override his preservation of human life directive. He's impervious to viruses, that just leaves introducing new programming through a new chip. That's easily remedied by removing that chip and running a program to purge all programs introduced from it."

"But why would Stalov do this? K.I.T.T. always believed Stalov wanted to do it just to see if he could, and to see how K.I.T.T. would react," Casey mused.

"Stalov wants Mom and K.I.T.T. to kill..." Michaela gasped, the realization bringing her near physical pain.

"Cascade failure..." Bonnie's hand flew to her mouth, as if she were going to be sick.

"What?" Michaela asked in confusion.

Casey seemed to understand just from those two words and a quick glance at Bonnie's computer monitor. "The directive to preserve human life is hard wired into both our CPUs. It can't be erased or over written. That directive is still in K.I.T.T., no matter what they've done to him. If he even attempts to take a life, the conflict of his prime directive with whatever program Stalov introduced will cause a cascade failure. All of his systems, including his CPU, will fail. He'll die."

All of the blood drained out of Michaela's face and she swayed. Casey reached out to steady her and Michaela gratefully leaned into him. "We can't let that happen!" she said after she'd regained her composure.

Michaela's face took on a fierce and determined look, causing Bonnie to smile sadly.

"What?" Michaela asked, startled by the look.

"Just thinking about how much you look like your father, and how like him you are," Bonnie replied.

"Oh," Michaela said, not sure how to respond.

"Have you ever talked to K.I.T.T. about him?" Bonnie asked.

"No. Why?"

"They were partners, you know. Closer to each other than anyone else, at least until your mom came along."

"I'll do that!" Michaela exclaimed, no trace of any doubt on her face now. They would find Carlee and K.I.T.T., before the Stalovs managed to commit murder.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It took Bonnie a couple of days to figure out exactly how K.A.I.S.Y. or Michaela would be able to remove the offensive chip from K.I.T.T. and introduce the program that would hunt down and destroy the programs installed from that chip.

In the end, she decided that due to the difficulties getting into K.I.T.T. they were sure encounter, the best they would be able to do was introduce a new program to neutralize the chip and all programs on it.

Turning away from her computer console, Bonnie stood and walked over to the midnight blue Canyon. "Okay, K.A.I.S.Y. this is going to rest on you. The only way I could come up with to introduce the neutralizer program is with your nanites. You're going to have to come into direct contact with K.I.T.T. so a few of your nanites can transfer to him. They'll purge his system nanite by nanite if they have to."

"Sure! Come into physical contact with a more experienced A.I., who has all the same functions I have. No problem!" K.A.I.S.Y. said, trying some sarcasm of his own.

"It doesn't matter if it's you or your avatar that touches him. I just don't know how long it's going to take to purge his system."

"Like I said, no problem!" Casey plopped out of the Canyon's door and stalked off into the mansion in search of Michaela."

Casey's use of sarcasm finally sank into Bonnie's mentally and emotionally exhausted brain. "Sarcasm does not become you, K.A.I.S.Y. We're all doing the best we can."

"Sorry," K.A.I.S.Y. apologized sheepishly. "It's just a huge responsibility you've placed on my shoulders."

* * *

Michaela was in the mansion's gym. Sweat dripped down her face as she struck out at the punching bag with fists and feet.

She didn't slow her pace, even after Casey walked up to her.

"Bonnie has uploaded a program that will neutralize the chip and any programs associated with it. I have to come into physical contact with K.I.T.T. though."

"That should be easy!" Michaela puffed sarcastically between kicks. "Has Jason managed to dig up anything about an antidote to that brain washing drug?"

"No, but I managed to 'acquire' the chemical composition of the drug for him."

"So, we'll have to pull Mom out and hope they come up with something before the drug wears off on its own."

"Bonnie doesn't know how long it'll take the program to purge K.I.T.T.'s systems. I suggest we make contact, deliver the program, then back off. Once K.I.T.T.'s systems have purged, he'll bring your mom home."

"What are we waiting for, then? Let's go!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The trip back to the warehouse began in tense silence.

Michaela was humming under her breath, so low she didn't think K.A.I.S.Y. would pick up on it.

He did. "What's that song you're humming?" he asked curiously.

"Just a lullaby my mom used to sing to me. When I was little, she told me that if I sang it while she was on a case, it would keep her safe. I know better than that now, but I still do it."

"I think K.I.T.T. finds comfort in it, as well. I've heard him hum it to himself late at night. I've asked him about it, but he won't tell me."

Michaela pulled up to the curb a couple of blocks away from the warehouse.

"Anybody home, K.A.I.S.Y.?"

K.A.I.S.Y. scanned the warehouse and sighed a human sounding sigh. "It's deserted at the moment."

"Well, let's go in and look around, then."

The summer sun had set hours ago, but it was still very hot out. Michaela broke out in sweat almost as soon as she got out of the cool interior of the Canyon.

Casey was already standing on the sidewalk, waiting for her. "I don't suppose I could convince you to wait here, could I?"

"Not a chance," Michaela practically growled.

She set off at a brisk pace, Casey falling in beside her.

They were a block into their journey, crossing an alleyway entrance, when four men stepped out of the alley. Two took up positions in front of Michaela and Casey, the other two behind.

The four men all appeared to be in their late teens to mid twenties. One held a crowbar, another a chain, and a third a switch blade knife. The fourth seemed confident in his associates and his own bare hands.

"Well, well! You two lost, or something?" the one without a weapon asked.

"Or something," Michaela replied, not at all frightened. "You'd best let us pass. You'll find we're more trouble than we're worth!"

"You think you're a Jedi from those movies? You trying some kind of mind trick on me?"

"Just stating a simple truth," Michaela replied.

Casey had taken up a position at her back, ready to deal with the crowbar and chain thugs.

"A simple truth, huh? This little girl thinks she's funny, boys."

All four thugs laughed.

"Oh, we're a laugh a minute, just you wait," Michaela replied.

"Do you really think your boyfriend there can handle all four of us?" the leader scoffed.

"Hmm... Probably, but I'm going to help him out, nonetheless." Now Michaela slid easily into a fighting stance. Casey emulated her. "I'm tired of talking, let's get this over with," Michaela said. "Come and get me, boys!"

The man with the switch blade lunged at her. Michaela side stepped, and brought her right hand down in a chopping motion on the man's wrist. His knife fell to the ground from suddenly nerveless fingers.

She then spun and used her left hand to chop at his neck, over the carotid artery. The leader stared at her in shock as the first of his minions dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Clearing his face of the shock, the lead thug moved in toward Michaela.

Michaela swung with her right fist, but the thug blocked it and grabbed her arm. He pulled her around so her right arm was pushed painfully up her back.

Her left arm was still free, though. She brought her elbow into his ribs with all her might.

The thug's breath went out with a whoosh and he released her.

Casey's two decided to attack him simultaneously.

The one with the chain whipped it out at Casey. Casey allowed it to wrap around his arm, then he grabbed it and yanked, pulling this opponent off balance toward him.

The thug with the crowbar swung it at Casey at the same time chain boy had swung the chain.

Casey allowed the crowbar to hit his side. Instead of deflecting it, as his nanites could have, he allowed it to sink into his side, then locked it in place.

Crowbar thug let go of the crowbar and stared in shock. After a couple of seconds, he turned and fled.

Chain thug released the chain and fell to the ground on his backside. He picked himself up in a hurry and fled as well.

Casey turned toward the leader, pulling the crowbar out of his side as he did so.

By now, the leader had regained his breath. His eyes were as big as saucers, and he didn't even stay to check on the thug Michaela had knocked out.

Casey dragged the unconscious man back into the alley, where later he would come-to with a slight headache later. By unspoken agreement, they didn't want to draw attention to themselves in this area by bringing in the police.

The whole encounter had taken less than three minutes, start to finish.

Michaela and Casey continued on their way.

At the edge of the vacant lot, Michaela looked at Casey. "Is the warehouse still deserted?"

A moment passed in silence as Casey accessed his scanners. "All clear."

Michaela took a breath, then sprinted the last few yards to a personnel door in the side of the warehouse. Casey was close on her heals.

At the door, Casey worked a little electronic magic on the lock and it clicked open. They slipped inside and closed the door.

It was pitch black inside. Casey switched to night vision and infrared. Taking Michaela's hand, he whispered, "Follow me."

"What do you see?" Michaela whispered back.

"The warehouse floor is a pretty big empty space. There's a couple of diagnostic computers along one wall. Offices are upstairs. More computers up there, too," he whispered as he guided her across the floor to the stairs.

Michaela cautiously followed Casey up the stairs. Once in the first office, Michaela heard the door close. Then Casey turned on the overhead light. There were no windows in the office, so no one would know they were here.

Looking around, Michaela saw little of interest aside from a computer sitting on a desk and a four drawer filing cabinet.

Casey switched on the computer and gave it a chance to boot up. He then put his hand on top of the CPU, allowing a few nanites to infiltrate the processor's hard drives.

Leaving the computer to Casey's tender mercies, Michaela turned her own to the filing cabinet.

Not surprisingly, it was locked. Reaching into her pocket, Michaela pulled out a small, worn, black leather pouch. Unzipping it, she revealed a lock pick set.

Choosing her tools, she pulled them out and moved in on the lock. It clicked and popped open before she could touch it, though.

"All you had to do was ask," Casey said, sounding a touch dejected.

"You were busy. I didn't want to disturb you," Michaela replied, glancing back to see Casey looking straight at her.

"I'm a multimillion dollar, highly advanced A.I. capable of concentrating on numerous tasks at one time. I think I can handle a simple lock while cracking a computer," Michaela could have sworn he sounded hurt.

"Sorry," she replied, blushing in embarrassment.

"No problem," Casey shot her a smile, causing her heart to skip a beat.

For a moment, Michaela wondered who had chosen Casey's appearance. Thinking, _he's gorgeous!_ She shook her head and turned back to the filing cabinet.

An hour later, Michaela slammed the bottom drawer with a sigh.

"Well, everything in there appears to have been left behind by the prior tenants. Junk! All junk!"

"I think I may have found something," Casey motioned Michaela over so she could look at the computer screen.

A wireframe schematic was spinning lazily on the monitor.

"What is it?" Michaela asked.

"A very powerful portable laser. It's capable of punching through just about anything."

"Anything? Does that include your M.B.S.?" Michaela asked worriedly.

"That would be the just about part. K.I.T.T. and I are impervious. But it looks like the design has been modified to be mounted in K.I.T.T.'s engine compartment"

"Have they already outfitted him with it?"

"That's the thing. They don't have it yet. These schematics say they're D.O.D. property. They must be planning to steal the laser from the D.O.D.," Casey replied.

"Anything else in that computer? If not, we probably better get out of here. We've been here too long."

"Some account numbers linked to off shore accounts. Both accounts show no balance," Casey switched off the computer and pulled his hand away.

A surprised look crossed Casey's face, and he swung to face the door.

"Damn! We've got company. K.I.T.T. somehow slipped by. He's pulling into the warehouse!"

Casey thought for a moment, "I'll create a diversion. K.A.I.S.Y. will be waiting right outside for you," Casey whispered in Michaela's ear.

"Casey, no!" Michaela whispered urgently back.

"This is our chance to deliver the program Bonnie created to purge K.I.T.T.!"

"Be careful, then!"

"Hey, it's me!" Casey replied, a crooked grin on his face. Turning off the lights, Casey silently opened the door and moved out on the landing.

The room was flooded with light from the main warehouse.

* * *

The landing was two stories off the warehouse floor. The thought of jumping that distance didn't bother Casey in the slightest.

K.I.T.T. was in the middle of the warehouse space, and Casey calculated that he would fall short of him by at least four feet.

Taking a running start across the landing, Casey leapt over the railing. He somersaulted in mid air, then landed on the concrete floor. He landed so heavily, the cement cracked and splintered under him, the sound echoing sharply in the empty warehouse.

Straightening from the crouch he'd landed in, he found himself face to face with K.I.T.T.'s avatar, Kitt.

When K.I.T.T. had been given the chance to have a human-analog avatar, he'd been given his choice of looks.

He'd chosen a slight resemblance to Michael Knight. The resemblance was just enough that he could have been Michael's brother.

He now seemed to resemble Garth Knight more than Michael Knight. Kitt's usual smirk of mischief had been replaced by an evil grin.

Without a word, Kitt lunged at Casey. Casey allowed himself to be pushed backward. Even so, his feet carved furrows in the concrete. The contact had been made. Kitt would carry Bonnie's program in his own nanites and K.I.T.T. would hopefully be purged.

Casey had to make the fight look good, and give Michaela a chance to escape the building. Then he could facilitate his own exit plan.

Finally digging in his heals, Casey brought them both to a halt near the stairs.

With all his strength, Casey shoved Kitt. Kitt flew backwards, impacting the side of the Corvette.

Pulling himself away from the car, which now should have been crawling with purging nanites, Kitt shook himself. A look of confusion crossed his face for a moment, before being engulfed once more by the Garth-like look.

Casey's hopes fell. Could the purging program not be working? Or was Bonnie right about the length of time it might take to purge K.I.T.T.'s systems?

* * *

Casey was having a full on fist fight with Kitt. Michaela had never thought she'd see anything like this.

"Michaela, I'm outside. Get out here while Kitt's distracted," K.A.I.S.Y.'s voice in her ear startled her.

"Okay, on my way," Michaela hissed back.

Slipping out of the office, Michaela sprinted to the stairs. Keeping a wary eye on the warring avatars, Michaela rapidly descended the stairs.

Without a second thought, or a backwards glance, Michaela ran full tilt to the door she and Casey had entered through.

She connected with the push bar on the door at full speed. The door swung outward with a bang. Michaela was already through the door and running for the open driver door of the Canyon, as it swung back closed.

Michaela was pulling her door closed when the warehouse door dented and flew off its hinges. Casey plowed straight through, and launched himself at the Canyon. He merged with the truck on contact.

The truck's tires spun, then caught traction and leapt forward.

K.I.T.T. came screeching after them, his own tires smoking on the asphalt.

Michaela gripped the steering wheel to keep herself from being jerked around. Even with the Passive Laser Restraint active, K.A.I.S.Y.'s sudden movements caused Michaela to be tossed about in the seat.

Turning to look out the back window, Michaela could see that K.I.T.T. was right on their bumper.

"I don't suppose he'll follow us all the way home," Michaela said, a note of hope in her voice.

"Doubtful," K.A.I.S.Y. replied. "As soon as he realizes where we're going, he'll stop chasing us. Hold on!"

A dump truck had pulled onto the road ahead of them, lumbering along at well under the speed limit.

K.A.I.S.Y. whipped around it, only to have to turbo boost over a car that turned head on into the lane they were in.

"Man, I can't wait to be the one to do that!" Michaela whooped in delight.

"Devon has said not until you are at least eighteen," K.A.I.S.Y. reminded her, as he took a corner at high speed.

"Yeah, I know," Michaela replied, a bit deflated.

K.I.T.T. had matched them move for move. A few blocks later, their destination becoming glaringly clear, K.I.T.T. cut off the chase. Michaela watched in the rear view mirror as K.I.T.T. came to a screeching halt, slowly reversed and turned around to drive back the way they had come.

K.A.I.S.Y. slowed down and allowed Michaela to take over.

"Well, that went well!" Michaela exclaimed. "Run a trace on those two offshore accounts, would you?"

"They both belong to the Stalov's and were only just set up within the last few weeks. I've flagged them, so I'll know the instant either has any activity."

"Okay. Now for the bigger issue of the laser. Where is it now?"

"It's being housed at a secure development facility on the outskirts of L.A." A schematic of the building appeared on the dash monitor. "There are armed M.P.'s posted outside and inside the building, with several on constant patrol. All exterior doors require retina scan to gain admittance. There are motion sensors throughout the building. The exterior walls are triple reinforced concrete."

"In other words, nothing K.I.T.T. can't just smash through. I doubt they'll go for the subtle, stealthy approach, anyway." Michaela sighed in resignation, "Get Devon on the line. Let's see if we can't get the D.O.D. to work with us."

A moment later, a connection to the mansion was made, but it wasn't Devon's face that filled the monitor.

"Jason!" Michaela said in surprise, "Where's Devon?"

"He wasn't feeling well, so I sent him to bed," Jason replied, a hint of worry tinging his deeply lined face. "He put me in charge. What's up?"

"Mom and K.I.T.T. are going to steal a highly advanced laser from a D.O.D. facility on the outskirts of L.A. I need you to contact the D.O.D. to work with us to stop and, hopefully, catch, Mom and K.I.T.T."

"You sure dream big! The D.O.D. isn't the easiest organization to get in contact with. I'll see what I can do, though."

"Thanks, Jason! K.A.I.S.Y. and I are going to go stake out the D.O.D. facility."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After a quick stop at a late night convenience store to grab what Michaela termed, "stake out essentials," they headed out to the D.O.D.'s secure facility.

The building was surrounded by an electrified fence and two acres of open, flat ground. There were no trees or bushes, only well maintained lawns and asphalt driveways.

Both gated entrances boasted guard shacks with vigilant M.P.s keeping watch over closed circuit monitors. M.P.s also patroled in and outside the fence with guard dogs. All of the guards were armed with standard issue M-16 submachine guns and nine millimeter hand guns.

This was the only facility on this road, but a mile down the road there was an industrial complex with a parking lot that provided the perfect spot for visual surveillance of the D.O.D. facility.

"Zoom in on the facility and put it on the monitor, K.A.I.S.Y. Scan for anything out of the ordinary, also scan for K.I.T.T.'s EM signature."

"Right away."

The requested visual appeared on the monitor, allowing Michaela to see what was happening at the facility without using binoculars.

"So far, no sign of K.I.T.T. and nothing going on at the facility. I'll continue scanning, though," K.A.I.S.Y. reported a moment later.

Stifling a yawn – it was already past midnight – Michaela pulled a wrapped sandwich out of the bag of stuff she'd grabbed at the convenience store.

Tearing the corner off a package of mayonnaise, she smeared it on the sandwich.

Taking a large bite, she sighed in contentment.

"I've always been curious about food," K.A.I.S.Y. broke into the silence.

"How do you mean?" Michaela asked absently, not really considering she was talking to an A.I. who had no need of nutrients in the way humans did.

"How does it taste? I've heard the terms sweet, sour, bitter, but I have no concept of them." Casey was suddenly sitting in the passenger seat, the convenience store bag on his lap.

He reached across and wiped a smear of mayonnaise from the corner of Michaela's mouth. He then stuck his thumb in his mouth, licking the mayo off of it. He spouted the chemical make-up of the mayonnaise, which made Michaela laugh.

"Yeah, you're right, that just doesn't convey how mayo tastes!" she exclaimed through her nearly hysterical laughter. On the inside, she was reeling from the sensuality of Casey's touch.

She wasn't sure if Casey realized how he made her feel. Michaela didn't know which scared her more, the thought the he did realize it, or the thought that he didn't.

Once she had gotten her laughter under control, and managed to suppress her feelings, she said, "Maybe Bonnie can come up with a program that will let you taste food."

* * *

The night passed slowly, and Michaela now realized that stake outs on TV were highly glorified and no where near reality. Reality was they were boring, even with a partner's company.

Luckily, her partner didn't require sleep, so she was able to leave the surveillance to him and lean her seat back to doze off.

The rising sun woke Michaela the next morning.

"Any kind of excitement last night?" she asked, as she stretched and pulled her seat back to a seated position.

"Nothing," K.A.I.S.Y. replied.

"Okay, let's give Devon a call, find out how he's feeling and see if Jason got anywhere with the D.O.D."

"I do hope you're keeping Michaela out of trouble, K.A.I.S.Y.," Devon said, as soon as the connection had been made.

"Good morning to you, too, Uncle Devon!" Michaela smiled at F.L.A.G.'s head.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Devon, sir!" K.A.I.S.Y. answered the old man with a slightly nervous tremor in his voice.

"If I've told you once, K.A.I.S.Y., I've told you a thousand times! Enough with the sir and Mr. Devon!" Devon good naturedly admonished the A.I., a friendly grin on his lined and weathered face.

"Yes, s... Devon," K.A.I.S.Y.'s voice sounded meek.

Devon was suddenly overcome by a deep wracking cough. His face turned red, as he tried to get the coughing fit under control and catch his breath.

"Uncle Devon?" Michaela reached out, as if she could touch Devon through the dash monitor. Her forehead was deeply creased with worry.

Devon – in his early eighties now – had not been a young man in a very long time. And while he was healthy as far as most old age illnesses went, he wasn't immune from catching cold.

"Summer time colds are always the worst," Devon managed after a few minutes. "Jason told me about your call last night. I've been in touch with General Connor over at the D.O.D. He has assured me that the facility is well guarded and impenetrable. I tried to tell him about K.I.T.T.'s abilities, but he insisted they could handle anything. You'd better stay there and keep an eye on the place."

"Okay, Uncle Devon. You go get some rest," Michaela blew him a kiss through the monitor, which he pretended to snatch out of the air, then they disconnected the link.

Michaela sighed and leaned back in her seat. She steepled her fingers, tapping her index fingers together.

"You're worried about him?" K.A.I.S.Y. broke into her thoughts.

"He's old, K.A.I.S.Y. He should have retired years ago, but he doesn't think anyone else can run F.L.A.G. as well as he can."

"He put Jason in charge last night."

"For one night!" Michaela scoffed.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The day was spent bantering back and forth. Michaela also thumbed through a couple of magazines she'd bought at the convenience store.

She occasionally glanced at the screen, noting the guards' alert but unconcerned manner as they made their rounds. For the most part, though, she trusted K.A.I.S.Y. to monitor the facility and report any changes to her.

The readout of the highly modified dash board's clock had just clicked over to two fifteen, and Michaela was stifling her fourth or fifth yawn in as many minutes when all hell broke loose.

"In bound vehicle traveling at two hundred fifty miles per hour, heading straight for the D.O.D. facility," K.A.I.S.Y. said, as his engine roared to life.

On the monitor, the M.P.s patrolling the building were swarming toward the far fence, which K.I.T.T. was rocketing toward.

K.A.I.S.Y. was already rolling out of the parking lot, his tires squealing on the asphalt as they found purchase.

Michaela had already tossed her magazine aside and was holding on to the steering wheel with white knuckled anticipation.

"E.T.A.?"

"K.I.T.T. came in from the opposite side of the building, so I just picked him up. He'll be there before us."

They rounded the building just in time to see K.I.T.T. crash through the fence. The closer M.P.s jumped frantically out of the way. The farther ones opened fire with their M-16's.

Between the fence and the wall, K.I.T.T. didn't bother to slow down. If anything, he sped up.

The wall exploded into the building, sending concrete chunks flying everywhere.

Michaela hoped no one had been in that section.

"Block the hole, maybe we can trap them," Michaela suggested.

M.P.s who had cautiously crept forward scrambled back out of the way as K.A.I.S.Y. sped through the hole in the fence and skidded sideways against the hole in the wall, sending even more debris flying in all directions.

Recovering M.P.s turned toward K.A.I.S.Y. and Michaela, raised their M-16's and opened fire.

"Damn!" Michaela exclaimed, slamming her hands down on the steering wheel. She knew K.A.I.S.Y. wouldn't allow her out with bullets flying. "What's going on in there?"

"They've got the laser. They're headed back this way. Even with turbo boost, K.I.T.T. couldn't get enough speed to get back out of one of the undamaged walls. He needs more area to speed up than he's got in there."

"What's the integrity of the top of this wall? Could K.I.T.T. turbo over us?"

"There's a forty percent chance the remainder of the wall would hold against a turbo boost."

"Let me guess, they're going to try it."

Looking out the passenger side window, Michaela could now see K.I.T.T. heading back through the destruction he'd wreaked.

She watched in horrified fascination as turbo boost catapulted K.I.T.T.'s front end into the air. He easily cleared them, sending chunks of concrete raining down on them from the remaining part of the wall and part of the roof.

When K.I.T.T. landed, his tires threw up clods of already decimated turf as they spun. Then they caught and he rocketed away.

K.A.I.S.Y.'s tires were already spinning. They threw up a few dirt clods of their own as he fishtailed toward the hole in the fence. Then they were rocketing after K.I.T.T. and Carlee, who still had a slack look on her face.

Closing in on the sleek Corvette, they tried to maneuver around, but K.I.T.T. matched them move for move.

They were still about twenty minutes from the city, but it was obvious K.I.T.T. was heading in that direction. It was imperative that they stop him now.

"Got any ideas for stopping K.I.T.T.?" Michaela asked.

"Even if it could get a purchase on him, he'd break my grappling hook," K.A.I.S.Y. said.

They rode in tense helpless silence. Neither able to come up with a viable option to stop K.I.T.T. and Carlee.

A few minutes later, they were in the city.

"They're leading us directly into a residential area, Michaela," K.A.I.S.Y. said, as he steered around a slower moving car. The black Corvette they were chasing had just turbo boosted over the same vehicle.

"Has K.I.T.T. responded to your calls?" Michaela asked, hanging onto the steering wheel for dear life, even though she wasn't in control of the vehicle.

"No! He's receiving my signal, but refusing to acknowledge," K.A.I.S.Y. replied in frustration. "We're coming up behind a slow moving semi, and there is on coming traffic," K.A.I.S.Y. informed Michaela.

"Turbo boost," she yelled out, punching the button a second later.

The midnight blue GMC Canyon was launched into the air and sailed effortlessly over the semi. Spinning tires meeting asphalt sent them rocketing forward once more.

K.I.T.T. and K.A.I.S.Y. were too evenly matched, though. Neither could make any headway.

Late afternoon pedestrians were left with slack jaws, wondering how a mid-size pick-up truck could be keeping pace with a high end sports car.

"We have to stop," K.A.I.S.Y. concluded a moment later. "That residential area is going to be full of kids playing outside. We just can't risk their lives."

Michaela reluctantly agreed, and K.A.I.S.Y. brought the truck skidding to a halt.

Michaela slammed her palms down on the steering wheel in helpless rage, uttering a curse which would have her mother washing her mouth out with soap, if she ever found out.

Tears were streaming down her face, as she finally allowed herself to give in to the thought that she might have lost her mom and lifelong best friend.

K.A.I.S.Y. had pulled to the side of the road.

"K.I.T.T. just made contact!" K.A.I.S.Y. said a moment later, his voice suffused with joy.

"What?" Michaela looked up, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. "How?"

"Highly encoded short burst transmission. They must be monitoring him. Give me a few minutes to decode it."

Michaela sat in tense silence, waiting for K.A.I.S.Y. to decode the message.

"He says Bonnie's program worked. He's been 'playing along' with the Stalov's for the last two days, and they don't suspect anything..."

* * *

"We'll have police support standing by at the airport," Devon assured Michaela.

"We have to catch the Stalovs in the act of turning Mom and K.I.T.T. over to the Al Quida insurgents."

"They'll have no idea the police are there."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

K.A.I.S.Y. was parked in an aircraft hanger two hangers away from where the Stalov's were going to hand K.I.T.T. and Carlee over to the insurgents who were planning to use them as their own compact army against U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

Just that morning, twenty million dollars had been transferred into one of the off shore accounts K.A.I.S.Y. had been monitoring. It was immediately transferred to the other account.

K.I.T.T., being back to his normal self, wouldn't let Carlee and himself be handed over to Al Quida, but Carlee was in no shape to apprehend the Stalovs and insurgents.

Once the action started, K.I.T.T. was going to spirit Carlee off to the F.L.A.G. mansion, where Jason was waiting with a possible antidote to the brain washing drugs.

"A cargo plane has just landed and is heading toward the target hanger," K.A.I.S.Y. announced, breaking into Michaela's thoughts.

A few minutes later, the target hanger was surrounded by police cars with flashing lights. A firefight broke out.

"The insurgents have managed to evade the police and retake the plane. They're making a run for it!"

"On, no they don't! Let's go!"

Michaela didn't wait. She threw the transmission into drive and floored the accelerator.

K.A.I.S.Y. shot forward, making his own door in the much larger hanger doors as he exploded through. The cargo plane was lumbering toward the runway, gaining speed more quickly than Michaela had imagined it could.

The rear cargo doors of the plane were still lowered. Michaela stomped on the accelerator, putting on a burst of speed that carried K.A.I.S.Y. up the ramp into the cargo bay of the plane.

Knowing the door wouldn't open for her, Michaela reached for the handle anyway, and was surprised when the door opened.

Casey was standing beside her when she got out. He winked at her, and they headed for the cockpit. They stopped momentarily on either side of the cockpit access way.

"How many?" she mouthed, knowing he could read her lips perfectly.

Casey held up four fingers.

Over the roar of the wind, Michaela doubted any of the men had heard K.A.I.S.Y. make his entrance, and she was right.

When she and Casey reached the cockpit, the four insurgents were sitting at their stations, working frantically to get the huge plane up to speed for takeoff.

Michaela walked up to the nearest man, and tapped him on the shoulder. When the man looked up at her in surprise, she brought the palm of her hand up into his nose. He collapsed, out cold, in a heap, his broken nose bleeding profusely.

Casey had simply put his arm around the other man's neck and applied just enough pressure to the arteries to make him pass out.

This entire process had taken a total of maybe five to ten seconds. It didn't go unnoticed by the other two men, however.

The pilot had just discovered control of the plane had been taken away from him. He was speaking very rapid Iraqi to his companion.

Michaela didn't understand any of it. Casey did, though, because he grabbed Michaela, lifted her up and ran for the truck.

The driver's side door opened and Casey shoved Michaela in. The door closed, and Casey merged with the truck.

They were half way down the cargo ramp when the plane exploded.

The truck was momentarily engulfed in flames, and pieces of the plane impacted the truck with the speed of bullets, but nothing penetrated the nano skin enhanced M.B.S.

As they pulled clear, a secondary explosion buffeted the Canyon, causing it to sway.

"You okay?" Michaela asked shakily.

"Yes, but let's not do that again. Okay?"

"What happened?"

"They were ordered not to be taken alive. The plane was rigged with explosives."

"Thanks for getting us out of there!"

"All part of the friendly service."

Airport fire suppression teams raced past them to the burning remains of the cargo plane, as they drove back to where the Stalovs had been apprehended.

K.I.T.T. was parked near the police cruisers. Carlee was yelling at the top of her lungs and pounding on the driver's side window with a fist. The police officers, informed that the Corvette was under remote operation by the Foundation, and that Carlee was under the influence of brain washing drugs, ignored her.

Michaela jumped down out of the truck, after pulling up next to K.I.T.T. She walked over to K.I.T.T., and placed her hand on the driver's window. She could clearly read her mother's lips, as the woman yelled, "Let me out!" even though K.I.T.T.'s sound proofing prevented her from hearing it.

She mouthed, "Sorry, Mom!" Then, under her breath, she said, "Take her home, K.I.T.T. Bonnie's waiting to take that laser out of you, so it can be returned to the D.O.D."

K.I.T.T.'s engine roared to life, and he pulled away. Michaela watched until they disappeared around an aircraft hanger.

"Ms. Knight?" a uniformed officer approached her. "I've been advised to contact the Foundation for the details surrounding this operation. You're free to go."

Michaela shot the officer a tired smile, and strode back to K.A.I.S.Y.

"Take us home," she said, as she climbed in.

"My pleasure!"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

K.A.I.S.Y. pulled into the garage a few minutes after K.I.T.T.

Jason, Bonnie, and Devon were standing near K.I.T.T., discussing the best way to extract Carlee from K.I.T.T. without hurting her.

"If we want to try the antidote on her now, we can't have K.I.T.T. sedate her," Jason was explaining to Devon and Bonnie. "It might interact with the antidote."

"Kitt can bring her out," Michaela chimed in. "He can hold her without hurting her. Casey can help, if Kitt needs him to."

"That seems to be our only option," Devon agreed.

As they watched, Kitt appeared in the Corvette's passenger seat. He firmly took hold of Carlee's upper arm.

The driver's door opened and Kitt gently urged Carlee out.

She didn't come quietly, though.

Once she was out of the car, she lunged at Devon, shrieking, "It's your fault! He looked up to you as a father! You made him go on that mission without K.I.T.T.! He's dead because of you!"

Devon stumbled backward, too stunned to speak.

Jason caught Devon's arm before the old man could fall. As he steadied Devon, he said, "It's the drugs speaking. She doesn't mean it."

Even Kitt was shocked by Carlee's outburst. If he'd been human, he probably would have released her in shock.

Once Devon was solid on his feet again, Jason stepped forward, holding up a syringe filled with clear liquid. "I need you to hold her still, Kitt."

Casey appeared and approached Carlee from the other side, taking her left arm.

Carlee snarled at Casey, "You! Don't think I don't know how you feel about my daughter!"

Casey's eyes widened, but he didn't let go. He noticed Michaela blanche.

Jason moved in front of Casey, and pushed up Carlee's sleeve.

Carlee howled in rage, as the needle punctured her skin.

As the antidote entered her system, Carlee's ramblings began to get slurred, but she still struggled.

"Take her to the infirmary. I have a bed with restraints set up, so I can monitor her," Jason instructed the two avatars.

They propped her up between them and carried her to the infirmary.

* * *

Carlee was in and out of consciousness for the next two days.

Michaela never left her side.

"Michaela, baby? What's going on?" Carlee's voice was thick with exhaustion. It took on a confused tone as she asked, "Why am I restrained?"

Michaela sat up, rubbing the back of her neck because of the awkward position she'd been sleeping in.

"Mom? Mom! Jason, she's awake!" Michaela called down the corridor. "What do you remember, Mom?"

"I had just finished up a missing person's case. I stopped for lunch on the way out of town. What happened? Where's K.I.T.T.?" alarm filled her voice.

"K.I.T.T.'s fine, Mom. You were brain washed, two weeks ago. The Stalovs."

Confusion clouded Carlee's face. "What?"

"You were brain washed and K.I.T.T. was reprogrammed. They had you and K.I.T.T. steal a high tech laser. They were going to sell you to Al Quida insurgents. K.A.I.S.Y. and I tracked you down and got you both out."

Jason walked in just then, Devon trailing behind him.

Michaela looked from Jason to Devon. "She doesn't remember anything about the last two weeks."

Jason released Carlee's restraints and helped her to sit up.

Devon squeezed Carlee's hand affectionately, and told her to take it easy. Then he walked out, presumably back to his office and paperwork.

After she was sure Devon was out of earshot, Michaela said, "Mom, while you were under the influence of the brain washing drug, you said something."

"What, baby?"

"Do you blame Uncle Devon for sending Dad on that mission?"

Carlee didn't have to ask her daughter what mission she meant, "No! Absolutely not! Your father went on that mission because he couldn't turn his back on the innocents who were being hurt by those thugs!"

"You need to tell Uncle Devon that, then," Michaela gave her mom's hand a squeeze and stood up. "I'll see you later."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Jason walked back into the room a few minutes after Michaela had left.

Carlee was sitting on the bed, looking rather bored. "When can I get out of the infirmary and back to my own rooms?"

"Just give me a few minutes to get this I.V. out of you, and I'll walk you back to your room." Jason began to fiddle with the machine the I.V. was being pumped through.

"Thank you, Jason." Carlee slid off of the bed, Jason taking her arm to steady her. Leaning into Jason for support for a moment, she felt his arms go around her. She felt no urge to resist, though. In fact, it felt like the most natural thing in the world, to be held in this man's gentle embrace. She turned slightly, so she could rest her cheek against his chest, and wound her own arms around him.

"I was so worried about you." His arms tightened protectively for a moment.

Carlee pulled back, and looked up at Jason. An uncertain smile spread across her face, and she reached up to stroke Jason's cheek. "I know I have feelings for you, but it's been so long. Can you be patient with me?"

Jason nodded, a smile spreading across his face. "Sure," he said, as he took her hand in his and gently pulled her toward the door. "How about we start small? We'll hold hands while I see you to your room."

"That sounds good."

* * *

Jason had kept to his word, holding her hand all the way to her room, where he gave her a hug, then left. He'd given her strict orders to get some real rest.

She found a spare earwig and put it expertly in her ear. Once it was active, she said, "K.I.T.T., can I come down and talk to you?"

"I'm a bit busy at the moment, but Kitt will be up in a minute," was his instant response.

Carlee paced the livingroom of her apartment while she waited. She paused a couple of times to stare at a picture of Michael sitting on Trans Am K.I.T.T.'s hood with a wistful smile on her face.

A polite knock at the door announced Kitt's arrival.

"Come in," she called.

"I'm glad to see you're back to normal," he said, as he walked in. "Jason pretty much ordered me to stay away until he knew you would be okay. I really wanted to be by your side, though."

"It's okay, Kitt. Sometimes Jason gets a little over protective."

"What did you want to see me about?"

"We aren't as young as we used to be, Kitt," Carlee began.

"Speak for yourself," Kitt replied, the smile playing across his features made him look more like Michael.

"I've come to a decision. I think it's time I retired. I'm sure Devon would be glad to have you stay on with the Foundation, but it's time I took up a less dangerous past time."

"I only stayed on with the Foundation because you did, Carlee. I'll never take another driver. If you're retiring, then I am too. We can tour the country together. For all of the miles I've driven, there are a lot of places I've never seen that I would like to see."

"We do have to come back home often, though. Jason and I are expanding our relationship."

Devon was sitting in his office, working on paperwork, when Carlee and Kitt walked in to talk to him.

Jason was sitting in one of the chairs across the desk from Devon, enjoying a cup of tea.

"Devon, K.I.T.T. and I have decided to retire. Michaela and K.A.I.S.Y. are more than capable of filling our shoes."

Carlee seemed ready to go on, as if she were arguing a case in court, when Devon held up his hand.

"You don't have to argue with me. You've always been free to go your own way whenever you wanted, though it didn't surprise me that you stayed as long as you did. You're half the reason Michaela is as stubborn as she is." An exasperated grin spread across his face.

Jason's face bore a bit of a shocked expression, so Carlee hastily added, "Don't worry, we'll be back home often. I'll probably have to help you keep my daughter in line, and I have a budding relationship to nourish."

Devon raised an eyebrow and smiled.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Michaela wandered out to the garage. K.I.T.T. and K.A.I.S.Y. were sitting in their parking places.

Bonnie had removed the laser from K.I.T.T. the day before. The D.O.D. had sent several armed M.P.s to pick it up. The general Devon had talked to seemed to buy the undercover operation story he'd been fed.

"K.I.T.T., can we talk?" Michaela asked, resting her hand gently on his roof.

The passenger side door opened, and Michaela climbed in.

"What would you like to talk about?" K.I.T.T. inquired.

"About Dad," Michaela replied.

"What would you like to know?"

"Everything!"

Several hours later, Michaela got out of K.I.T.T., and said, "Thank you, K.I.T.T. I've never really known my dad like that before."

"Any time, Michaela," K.I.T.T. responded. "I've got a lot of other stories I could tell you about your father."


End file.
